


S02 - Journey to the Centre of the Earth

by SunAndMoon (LadyMorgaine)



Series: Superheroes [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, On Hiatus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22949911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMorgaine/pseuds/SunAndMoon
Summary: And so the new story begins!As per previous, Seungkwan's dreams mean things, generally. For those curious, he's enrolled in SNU's School of Earth and Life Sciences, on a fast-track program to make up for what he missed. SHIELD pulled some strings to get him in.The gap between this story and the previous is about six months, as noted.South American mythology isn't my strong point and I have to change it a bit to fit my story, so some of the below might be a little twisted.This is the start of the real canon divergence between the normal SHIELD universe and this story.As a reminder, Jihoon is a pyrokinetic that requires vast stores of food to use his powers.Wonwoo's spirit guide, Iggy, speaks with a really thick Spanish accent. No one is sure whether it's affected or not.Bianca Del Rio is the original owner of the Rolodex of Hate.Sach'amama, 'Mother Tree', is an Incan goddess in the form of asnake. Henceforth I'll just use Sachamama.TheEl Doradomyth references a long-lost city in South America, apparently ancient and made of gold.By this time in the story, Soonyoung and Jihoon have had several legendary eating battles.More of Soonyoung's history will come out as the seasons go on.
Series: Superheroes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649308
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	S02 - Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Seungkwan arrived at the office with bloodshot eyes and the largest iced coffee he could find. The past six months’ training to get up to speed at Team Seventeen’s SHIELD base had been taxing, not only because he wasn’t used to that much physical activity but because it had actively involved training with what mystics they could find, along with a ton of meditation, a compressed education course and a whole range of permits.

Studying and working _sucked_ , even if they had managed to get his grandmother’s house on Jeju back in his name. Adding the meditation and training on top of that made his dreams unusually vivid and strong, and he did _not_ have time for shit today.

He schlepped in through the side entrance and made his way past the receptionists and the like, climbing down the staircase away from the situation room towards the lounges; he had one more coffee delivery to make before he could collapse face-down on a sofa.

He found Jihoon in a little training area off to the side, wincing as he stuck his head inside the room. It was superheated, walls plinking with his training, and so low in humidity it felt as if his skin aged three years just from the three seconds. In contrast, the smaller figure inside showed no difficulties whatsoever, merely rotating his shoulders as he simultaneously held three rotating fireballs the size of a head up in the air with no support whatsoever.

Epic. Jihoon- _hyung_ was epic and _dangerous_ and still kind – they shared a love for ballads he wouldn’t have expected.

“ _Hyung_?” he asked hesitantly. “Morning _hyung_ , I brought your coffee. It’s gonna melt if I bring it in there I think.”

The fireballs winked out and Jihoon looked around, naked relief on his face. “Seungkwanie~” he carolled as he trotted over, heat from the room disappearing back into him. “ _Hyung_ loves you so much, gimmeee~”

It was so odd to hear a Busan satoori, deep and strong, be honeyed as well, and not to giggle at the greedy hands his shortest _hyung_ stretched out. Seungkwan barely managed, but smiled as he was steered out of the room and down towards the lounge. “You’ve eaten, _hyung_?” he asked. “Are you dehydrated again? I could start bringing you tea instead, it’ll be better for you than caffeine?”

Jihoon snorted before taking a huge swallow, ice and all. “It’s better for others if I have caffeine,” he mumbled around an ice-cube. “You wanna make a swing past the cafeteria here? I could eat.”

Seungkwan had seen Jihoon eat his way through a mountain of food as if it were nothing, storing it in an invisible stomach or extra-dimensional hole or something. Breakfast would be _no_ challenge. “Sure _hyung_ ,” he agreed, a little surprised when he felt Jihoon’s fever-hot forehead rest on his shoulder but quietly happy about it as well.

They made their way through the lounge and a face-down, snoring Mingyu before entering the cafeteria; Jihoon curved them away from the noisier tables and went to collapse in a seat opposite Wonwoo, forehead thudding on the table. Seungkwan shook his head, mouthed a ‘morning’ to his other _hyung_ and went to fetch breakfast: some cut fruit and oatmeal for him, and a huge, greasy fry-up for Jihoon. The grinning _ahjumma_ there gave him a muffin as extra service, helped him balance the huge tray and waved him off.

“Morning, _hyung_ ,” he said formally to Wonwoo as he reached the table again; the clink of the tray was enough to wake Jihoon, who raked it closer to him with a hungry, half-cute mutter of thanks. Seungkwan had to work quickly to get his food and Wonwoo’s tea off it before he made himself comfortable.

Wonwoo paused in his reading to eye him critically. “You look wan,” he said quietly but kindly. “Bad night?”

“The worst,” Seungkwan grumbled. “I had to study late and then I couldn’t get to sleep, not even after the meditation. He reached out without looking to protect his muffin from Woozi’s thieving fingertips.

“Damn clairvoyants,” his shortest _hyung_ grumbled, but kindly, attacking the mountain of kimchi in front of him instead.

“And your plants?” Wonwoo prompted. “How’d your Biology exam go?”

Seungkwan brightened. “Well! I think.” He paused, considering the novel in front of Wonwoo. “ _Hyung_ …” he eventually said. “Iggy is Spanish, right? I mean, from Spain? Does he know anything about South America?”

Wonwoo shot him an odd look, sipping at his tea. “A little?” he finally said. “Why?”

Seungkwan grimaced. “I kept dreaming about these wacky jungle adventures,” he complained. “And there was a lake and a pyramid and a _huge_ snake, and it was chasing us, and then there were tribesman that tried to drive us back and the plants were angry…” He trailed off, pinching at the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t even have anything to eat beforehand. Anyway, I was wondering if he could tell me a little so that these dreams would disappear at least.”

Considering him, Wonwoo’s gaze was remote. When he opened his mouth again, it was Iggy, perfect Korean distorted by his accent. “This snake, Senor Seungkwan, did it have a lot of feathers? Very bright? Could it fly?”

Seungkwan took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “No,” he said hesitantly, trying to remember his garbled dreams. “I… wait, I wrote it down in that dream journal you gave me.” Turning sideways, he dug through his bag, pulling out the moleskin journal, and paged through it quickly. “No, I didn’t mention anything here about feathers.”

Jihoon looked up, already halfway through his fry-up. “Why would a snake have feathers?” he asked, sounding confused. “Is this some kind of dinosaur bird thing, Iggy- _hyung_?”

Iggy shook Wonwoo’s head. “There is a serpent with feathers, yes? The Quetzalcoatl from Meso-America. Very famous. Senor Seungkwan dreams in not only images but also symbols yes? But often they can name area, or culture… Quetzalcoatl is Aztec.”

Seungkwan, fascinated, scribbled it down as a note along the bottom of a nearly-full page in the journal. “It had trees on its back,” he read from the night’s fevered scribbling. “It really was huge. And… and some kind of bone like the rudder of a ship but in front of its, um, chest?” He looked up to find Wonwoo’s expression twisting to something strange. “Iggy- _hyung_?” he questioned. “You recognise it?”

Iggy looked off towards the side, remaining silent for some time until Jihoon nudged Wonwoo’s arm with his chopsticks. “Huh? Oh. Yes. Snake you see is Sachamama,” he muttered, frowning. “Earth mother. More known in Brazil and up Andes region to Peru. Sorry, you said you saw lake and pyramid as well? Big lake? Really big? Tell me about pyramid too.”

Blinking, Seungkwan nodded and cleared his throat. “I’ll read? Ah… we were running through a thick jungle to get away from the snake but in the distance I could see a lake through the trees, and it glinted in the morning sun this really lovely shade of lapis with gold as the water reflected the sun. It stung my eyes as we ran, but we didn’t stop running, and then all of a sudden there are mountains all around us and we’re running towards a pyramid…” His brow knits. “It was on top of a tall conical hill. The trees kept telling me to hurry.”

Silence fell as he looked up at Wonwoo. It stretched out into something uncomfortable; he shared a look with Jihoon.

“Iggy- _hyung_?” Jihoon questioned after a few minutes. “Hey, are you in there? Wonwoo-ya?”

Wonwoo blinked out of his trance as Jihoon poked him on the arm again. “Iggy’s gone silent,” he said quietly, frowning. “He’s never silent. I think something’s wrong. All I’m getting is a faint worry about ‘Parime’. I think we need to go and speak to the _hyungdeul_.”

* * *

Seungcheol, half-asleep, grumbled as Seokmin patted him on one hip, trying to wake him up.

“ _Hyung_ ,” Seokmin murmured softly. “Come on. Wake up. There’s an issue.”

Groaning, Seungcheol tried to stuff his head in underneath his pillow. He had drunk way too much at the birthday celebration the night before; his head still ached fiercely and he didn’t even want to think of moving more. Still, when a warm hand settled between his shoulderblades and gently leached away the pain he grunted in thanks. He had a whole five seconds until another pat came, this time to the small of his back.

“Come on,” Seokmin encouraged. “Get up. It’s not an emergency but you should. Your office”

It took long minutes before he came fully awake and stood. He shuffled through his morning routine, made it into clothes and finally grimaced as he pulled himself straight, cracking the old scar sites along his spine. Wandering out, rubbing over his jaw to check his smooth shave, he made his way to his office and thudded down in his chair, ignoring the looks he got from the three seated there. “Speak,” he grunted, sticking one hand out pincer-like for the coffee his lovely, amazing, wonderful personal assistant hustled to his side.

“You look like shit,” Jisoo opined from the other side of the deck, smiling sunny-unconcerned.

Seungcheol cracked open one eye; it was only through the presence of one of the kids that he didn’t flash Jisoo the bird. He _did_ add his name to the little black book in his mind again, his…

He broke off as he pondered what that American person had called it.

Oh. Yes. A rolodex of hate.

Several more sips revivified him a little. “Seungkwanie?” he murmured. “Problems? Don’t you have an exam later on? Uh… something something environmental sciences?”

Seungkwan smiled nervously at him. “Earth and environmental sciences, _hyung_ ,” he reminded. “It was just a class test, but the professor cancelled the classes today and they couldn’t find a replacement. Um, sorry to bother you this early.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Seungkwanie,” Jeonghan added from his seat on Jisoo’s other side. “He’s just hung over.”

Seungcheol longed for the days a few months back Jeonghan still saw him as a stranger, thus didn’t mercilessly tease every chance he got. “What’s the matter?” he asked, taking another sip of coffee. “Seokmin-ah said there was a problem.”

It was the fourth person that spoke, quiet Wonwoo. “Iggy’s gone silent,” he said bluntly. “Silent-silent. I tried to channel an animal just to check, and I had to fight to assume another form. It happened after Seungkwan related his dream. I had a little check and there’s been some light seismic activity along the Sierra del Divisor park between Peru and Brazil.”

“Here, _hyung_ ,” Seungkwan muttered, helpfully sliding a journal over. “That section from, um, there.”

Seungcheol read and felt his stomach drop the further he went on.

“Sachamama _is_ documented,” Wonwoo said as Seungcheol looked up again. “And so is Lake Parime, which is the only thing he mentioned before going silent.” He paused. “It’s… connected to the El Dorado myth.”

“The City of Gold?” Seungcheol asked incredulously. “That’s real? What is it with weird cities popping up left and right these days?” He handed Seungkwan’s journal back. “I’ll talk to HQ and see what they suggest. Anything else?”

Jisoo nodded. “The new plane came late last night. It’s based on Team One’s Bus, but with a few upgrades. The Korean arm of Stark Industries went to town on it. If we need to leave, it’ll be stocked in a few hours.”

Seungcheol took a deep breath. “Alright. See to that; even if we don’t leave immediately best to get it done as soon as possible. Jeonghan-ah, gather the team please, just in case. Seungkwanie, Wonwoo-ya, take a run past medical just to make sure there’s not something more fundamentally wrong. I should have an answer in an hour, which should be more than long enough to rouse Chan out of whatever network he shouldn’t be in.”

“I can do that!” Seungkwan volunteered. “Jeonghanie- _hyung_ , I think he’s at a café with Hansolie, I’ll phone them for you!”

Seungcheol hid his smile as the four stood and left, taking a moment to enjoy the rest of his coffee before he had to make the call to HQ.

* * *

“Keep it moving, keep it moving, we’re wheels up in fifty!” Soonyoung shouted as he stood on the loading ramp of the new Bus. It still had that new plane smell, together with whatever technology had been tucked into its odd corners by Stark Technologies. Things had been moved around as well, mostly to accommodate the increased food storage and small arboretum on board. He grinned widely as he counted crates down and marked them off as Logistics loaded them; he had had the chance to sit in on the technical briefing on the new weapons systems with Jun, Seokmin and Minghao, but had quickly been ushered out after he nearly set off a Sidewinder in the bay.

“Munitions now, Soonyoung _-ssi_ ,” the bay captain let him know, just as the tiny bane of his existence idled up the ramp as well, looking as sated as a cat in need of a nap.

“Morning,” Jihoon greeted, coming close enough to look at the inventory sheet.

Soonyoung wasn’t quite sure _why_ Lee Jihoon set him off so much. He was a superb fighter with either weaponry or hands, he worked out religiously, and he had acute self-control that only vanished in the presence of rice. Hell, he had had to put it down to the fact that they wielded opposite elements. “Morning,” he said back as Chan trotted past, easily juggling a set of crates stacked four high: the combined weight made the ramp creak, but not crumple. “Ready for deployment?”

Jihoon nodded. “You’re still ok with me storing my extra stuff under your bunk? I did give your print access.”

“Yup,” Soonyoung said. “And I got those special rounds out of my military contacts, but it wasn’t cheap. Your budget’s going to take a hit.” He tried to endure Jihoon’s little fang-filled smile. “Have you ever been on jungle operations? They’re nastier than Busan in summer monsoon season.”

“Not that much,” Jihoon admitted. “Although I’m a Busan boy. We’re talking about the armour-busters? Thanks, Soonyoung _-ssi_. Where are they?”

“Crate 12,” Soonyoung muttered, and watched Jihoon wander away. His attention stayed nailed there before a long arm wrapped around his neck; it was only familiarity that kept him from attacking. Instead, looking around, he eyeballed the owner of the other fang-filled smile in the team.

Mingyu grinned at him, smile impeccably on display. “Are you still sore he beat you in that arm-wrestle for the last serving of pork, _hyung_?” he teased, getting in a long-armed octopus-hug before Soonyoung elbowed him away. “I hear we’re off to the Amazon? Luckyyyyy~ I hear South Americans are totally hot.”

“He did not win!” Soonyoung flared. “My elbow slipped on the pork-grease!”

Mingyu laughed and danced away. “Whatever, _hyung_. I’m gonna get my things stowed.”

Huffing, Soonyoung turned back to the loading. One by one, the rest of the team trickled on, until at last Seungcheol steppe aboard with the secure documents. Marking the last tick, Soonyoung tossed the tablet outside to the waiting tech, hit the ramp retract and went to give his new boss a firm handshake. “All loaded and everyone onboard,” he confirmed. We can go at your word.”

Seungcheol smiled a little as he returned the handshake. “Jungle ops eh?” he muttered. “I hate jungles. If it’s not the fucking snakes out to get you, it’s the mosquitoes. It’ll be the Golden Triangle all over. Help me keep the guys alive in there, none of them have our level of training.”

Soonyoung grimaced. His exact training had never been disclosed to Jeonghan or HQ, but the two of them had shared a long drink one night, exchanging old stories. Choi Seungcheol at least had an idea of what lurked in his past, if not the specifics. “At least it’s not heroin on top of all the other wacky stuff. That’s just a whole world of nasty.”

Sighing, Seungcheol nodded. “You know it. Well, the sooner we get going the better. Off to South America, I guess.”

Grinning, Soonyoung clapped him on the shoulder and wandered with. _One more mission,_ he speculated. _One more mission to get through._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   * And so the new story begins! 
>   * As per previous, Seungkwan's dreams mean things, generally. For those curious, he's enrolled in SNU's School of Earth and Life Sciences, on a fast-track program to make up for what he missed. SHIELD pulled some strings to get him in. 
>   * The gap between this story and the previous is about six months, as noted. 
>   * South American mythology isn't my strong point and I have to change it a bit to fit my story, so some of the below might be a little twisted. 
>   * This is the start of the real canon divergence between the normal SHIELD universe and this story. 
>   * As a reminder, Jihoon is a pyrokinetic that requires vast stores of food to use his powers. 
>   * Wonwoo's spirit guide, Iggy, speaks with a really thick Spanish accent. No one is sure whether it's affected or not. 
>   * Bianca Del Rio is the original owner of the Rolodex of Hate. 
>   * Sach'amama, 'Mother Tree', is an Incan goddess in the form of a [snake](http://www.incaglossary.org/s.html). Henceforth I'll just use Sachamama. 
>   * The [El Dorado](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado) myth references a long-lost city in South America, apparently ancient and made of gold. 
>   * By this time in the story, Soonyoung and Jihoon have had several legendary eating battles. 
>   * More of Soonyoung's history will come out as the seasons go on. 
> 



End file.
